Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-06-24
THE rErEs ATrLoHENCE CONTINUED
Number Nine of Rev. Theodore A. Hop
kius's Letters from Abroad.

Before quite reaching my subject, |
must continue my last letter, drawing to-
ward it gradually.
Let me first premise then, that grateful
Florence delights to honor her distin-
guished sons, and she has consecrated her
church of Santa Croce to the sepulture of
her gifted dead. In that building, "The
Westminster of Italy," their allegorical
monuments stand wrought in the most
precious marbles by her most renowned
sculptors. She has long since thus com
memorated those two great poets, Dante
and Alfieri, also that imprisoned musical
composer Cheralon. So too, you may
/ find there the body of Calico Galilei, (the
great astronomer who was imprisoned so
long by the Roman Catholic church be
cause he insisted that the earth was round
and turned on its axis Michael Angelo
is there, who as sculptor and architect and
painter ranks among the greatest of men.
His noblest work was the Dome of St
Peters, in Rome-built by him after the
models of that on the Cathedral here =
all these and more are among Florence's
honored dead
The first step then in the direction of
form vast procession, organize a colos
sal orchestra and chorus, and remove the
remains of the famous Rossini composer
of numerous operas and oratories. Will
liam Tell and Stabat Mater are among his
works best known in Burlington. Try
and realize the magnificent dignity of this
movement. The procession numbered
over 5000 The triple orchestra was com
posed of 200 of the most renowned musi-
clans of Europe. The chorus included
1000 voices, many of them from among
the Italian nobility, and all these were in
spired with tender reverence for the dead,
and enthusiasm for his fame
On May Bird this majestic cortege, con-
veyed the precious dust through the wind
ing streets with measured step and many
funeral dirge, and at length laid it down,
in Santa Croce, as one more addition to
the galaxy of glorious names so honored
there. Then, regaining the square on
which the church stands, the 1000 voices,
supported by the grand 200 instruments
of the orchestra, united all their power to
pour forth upon the open air the soul stir
ring sadness of Rossui's masterpiece,
The prayer of Moses in Egypt" in tones
that might have almost walked the dead
The swelling wave of sound WAS borne on
the breeze, and as it rose and fell it hush
ed the mighty city's roar, and the thou
sands there gathered stood still, spell
bound, to a silence reveren tial and sub
lime.
Wreaths, emblems, immortelles flow
ers, notices and bronze circlets of laurel
leaves were showered and piled on Rossi-
mis- tomb. They came from London,
Paris, Vienna, Turin, Rome, Naples, Mi
Ian and Venice. But it touched me when
saw above them all, two long white silk
pendents, inscribed with the only words
IN the English language there and these
were in large letters of gold, "Honor to
Z a of ;,;
the Handel and Hadyn society of Boston,
Mass, L. S. A"
On May /, the same magnificent chorus
and orchestra successfully rendered the
'Stabat Mater" of ROssin to an immense
audience. On the 18th public lecture
was given on the life and music of the
great composer. His bust, of heroic
size, stands IN the hall of celebrities, in
the great cemetery at Bologne, and on
May :, a grand concert of Rossini's music,
exclusively, was given by the same orches-
ira at the Pagliano concert hall. Thus
did Florence consplcuously honor this
favorite son for the first five days of her
cathedral Festa and commend him to
the memory of mankind.
May also was distinguished by the ar
rival of His Majesty, Humberto l., king
of united Italy, and his Queen Margharita,
both of them most popular, and sympathe- !
tic with every good work.
-Four days were yet to intervene before
the unwilling of the cathedral west front J
There was time to fix Donatello's great |
name likewise more firmly in the world s !
memory. From A. ID. 14l0 to 1880 he fill !
ed Florence with his bronze and marble /
statues OF men, women, children and
horses, and for four centuries his originals
have been regarded as models. The ar
lists of Florence had Just procured fine !
bust of this great master, and from May
S to II, the expected unwilling of that was
~
place, in the presence of the king and
queen, and the usual crowd, and not con-
tent with that, the city raised a much !
finer monument to him in the church of
San Lorenzo. Beside that the munich |
pality of Florence surrendered to Dona. |
tello's memory the largest room in the J
national museum, ia the Bargello tower. ;
There they gained every attainable spec- !
men of his works, which filled the room
and they called it 1.-The Donatello Exh- !
biIion." Thousands of visitors crowded /
1t every day during the whole 16 days of
the FIESTA.
The honors to Rossni and Donatello
having now been paid, the notable 18th |
of May dawned on Florence, the day of |
the unwilling of the cathedral front. of |
the 1900 square feet of the most eXquis- |
itively carved marbles in the world For
the past II years it had been closely board |
ed up from public view, and every one
but the initiated had been jealousy ex-
cluded. Now, a vast veil had been hung |
up, behind the boarding, and the latter |
had been removed. At touch the veil |
could fall and reveal the whole. From
sunrise to 10 O'Clock the crowds were
gathering in every neighboring street |
Royalty and mobiles, members of the court |
and Legislature mayors of cities judges, |
and representatives of every department |
of art were present. So were distinguish |
ed men, invited from every European
capital. The august assemblage slowly |
took their places, curiosity was on tiptoe, |
stories were atloat of the wondrous and |
costly work that the veil concealed. Men
talked and gesticulated about this till |
they got excited, when suddenly the veil |
dropped. Twenty thousand eyes were
instantly fixed on that amazing work |
They saw sculptures and marbles, and |
spiral window Innings, and bas reliefs and |
high reliefs and pediments, and |
Madonnas, saints, angels, apostles |